


We'll Perfect Our Chemistry

by gloria_andrews



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Legendary Dogs, M/M, One Shot, Pets, Romance, Science!Harry, a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-25
Updated: 2013-10-25
Packaged: 2017-12-30 11:38:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloria_andrews/pseuds/gloria_andrews
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is at University and he works in a Natural Resources Lab. He makes friends with a dog with a mysterious owner. Who could it be???</p>
            </blockquote>





	We'll Perfect Our Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to RAOTS ([100percentsassy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/100percentsassy/pseuds/100percentsassy)), as usual, for reading this and also for the title (from Kokomo by the Beach Boys)
> 
> This is a whole bunch of fluff!! I hope you enjoy it!!

Harry was stuck at the lab late on a Friday night, finally getting around to taking some dissolved oxygen readings on the particularly large set of ground water samples he’d been ignoring, when Eli stopped by to visit. He slunk right up to Harry and pushed his nose against the back of Harry’s right hand, nudging it to the side to demand some pets. Harry let out a gasp of a laugh, startled by the cold press of it through his latex glove. He shook his head and set his current sample on the countertop, tugging off his gloves and dropping into a crouch to scratch Eli behind the ears.

“Hey, E.” Harry murmured, yawning. “How are you, you little boss?”

Eli was a beautiful mutt. Some kind of German Shepard/Labrador Retriever mix that had turned out just right, a long blond face and the kohl rimmed, doe eyes of a deer. Harry smiled as he thought of Zayn, puttering around the lab Tuesday, muttering to Eli, teasing him, “Whatcha got all that make up on for, Eli? Huh? Hot date tonight?” he’d said, as he skirted around the dog, patting Eli’s head intermittently and disorganizing shit that Harry had just organized. Liam had stuck his head in from the Soils Lab next door to make an overeager joke about Eli working the corner, and both Harry and Zayn had told him to shut it. Typical Liam.

Eli had become something of a department mascot since the semester began, trotting around the building, the swish of his tail and the tick tick ticking of his nails on the floor announcing his arrival.  Harry must have been too preoccupied to notice this time.

“Whose are you, sir? Who do you belong to?” Harry asked, as Eli flopped on to his side, exposing his belly in an obvious invitation for more rubs. Harry laughed again and leaned back against the cabinets of the lab bench, sliding all the way down to the floor. He sat cross-legged and cooperated, reaching out to pet the dog’s stomach.  Harry could take a break for a few minutes; he had to wait for the floc to settle in the sample before moving on to the next step. _You could probably stand to touch another living creature at this point, anyway._ He thought, _Human or otherwise._

He was supposedly one of the new grad student’s, Eli. Must have been one of Professor Hensler’s favorites, the student, because the dog seemed to have free reign of the entire building. Zayn didn’t even have that. Then again, it was entirely possible Hensler didn’t even know, likely even. Eli in the labs was probably a disaster waiting to happen, but Harry certainly wasn’t going to say anything.

“Heard he knows how to use the lifts.” Zayn had said, earlier that week during another one of Eli’s visits. Zayn had been having fitful success at getting the dog to eat some of the strawberry fruit snacks that had been lying around the office off the lab for over a year. They were always eating in the lab, more than they were supposed to. They weren’t supposed to at all.

Harry didn’t know if he bought it, the thing about the lifts.

“I believe it,” Niall had said, also visiting, like Eli, and significantly more enthusiastic about the fruit snacks, “that’s a legendary dog right there, if I’ve ever seen one.”

“A legendary dog?” Harry had asked with a snort, making a face.

Niall nodded, checking the countertop for strange chemical puddles and then shoving aside a stack of papers before hoisting himself up onto it, his heels banging against the cabinets below.

“Always forget you’re a cat person, Haz.” Niall said, sighing and shaking his head sadly, as if he pitied Harry about his worldview. “Some dogs just have something special, ok? They’re smarter. They understand people better. They just get it. And after they’re gone, you never stop telling stories about them. They’re legendary.” Niall gestured down to Eli, who was sitting politely before him, panting. “I mean, take a look in Eli’s eyes, H. It feels like he can see your soul.” 

Niall had continued blabbering on about some book he’d had as a kid. One full of stories about “dog heroes” and one “hero pig”, and Harry had sort of tuned him out as he cleaned out a micropipette. Not because he wasn’t interested in animal heroes, anyone would be, just, Niall couldn’t remember many of the significant details of the stories and he always talked with his mouth full, so.

Harry swore under his breath now, at the thought of Niall, craning his neck to glance up at the clock on the far wall of the lab. It was a little after nine. Harry was already late meeting them at the pub.

“Shit, E.” Harry said, scratching behind the dog’s ears again, “Niall’s gonna kill me.”  He lay out along side Eli on the floor, stretching to reach his backpack where he’d left it at the end of the lab row. He somehow managed to fish his phone out of the front pocket with his fingertips and he congratulated himself about it as he took a look at his messages, still lying prone on the floor. 

There were three missed texts from Niall:

**Wtf haz**

**I know where you are, you twat.**

**NO WINDOWS!!! No fucking windows.**

Harry groaned, laughing. He let his head fall back onto the floor and then rolled onto his side, his body gently curled around Eli’s, a hand at the scruff of the dog’s neck. It was true. There were no windows in the lab. It was cruddy and old, buried in the middle of the second floor of the Natural Resources Building, and it smelled strongly of chalk dust and rusty hard water and faintly of cleaning products. Harry took a deep breath; he found it comforting. Niall told him repeatedly that spending too much time there was turning his skin gray.

“You’re all washed out, Harry. Even your irises are getting paler. They look like lichen.” He would say, making a face and doing a little shiver of distaste, “It’s gross. Get some sunlight, you loser.” He mumbled about rickets and vitamin d anytime Harry told him he was heading over to the lab. Which was, admittedly, every day. But Niall always disregarded the ten-minute walk there and back, as if Harry were somehow travelling to and from campus by underground tunnel.

“You would if you could, weirdie.” Niall said, when Harry had pointed it out.

Harry rolled his eyes and sent a text to Zayn.

**Be there in 20 mins. Don’t tell Niall.**

Zayn’s response was almost immediate.

**Aha. See you soon**.

“Well, my friend,” Harry said, still sprawled on the floor, resting his fingers on Eli’s surprising springy forehead, “I guess I should get back to it.” It was strangely comfortable on the laminated tile though, tucked up next to the dog. Harry couldn’t quite bring himself to move to stand up, his bones felt too heavy. He kept pressing his fingers into Eli’s fur and staring at the little chits of notebook paper on the floor, at the slight accumulation of dirt and sand along the base of the row of cabinets on the other side of the aisle.

“You’re a good dog, Eli,” Harry said, surprised at how touched he felt when Eli’s chin came to rest on his chest, liquid brown eyes staring up at him. Harry was an easy get. “Old McDonald had a farm.” Harry sang to the dog in an affectionate whisper, still content on the floor, suddenly inspired, “Eli-Eli-O. And on that farm he had a pig. Eli-Eli-O. With a—”

“How’d you know his name?” An amused voice came from the hall, startling Harry. He sat up quickly, the words to his brilliant, modified version of Old McDonald dying in his throat, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of the boy in the doorway. Harry blushed.

“Zay— uh my friend t-told me?” He stammered. He clambered to his feet, dusting off his jeans and standing awkwardly as Eli flounced happily over to whom Harry could only assume was his owner.

“Don’t feel bad,” The boy said, smiling, his eyes twinkling with understanding as they moved over Harry, taking him in. “I usually replace the ‘Danny’ in ‘Danny Boy’, when I do that.” He raised his eyebrows at Eli and then started to sing down to him, beaming, “Oh Eli boy, the pipes the pipes are calling.”

Harry huffed out a surprised little laugh, his heart jumping in his chest. The boy’s singing voice was a bright rasp, fine and sunny, and it suited him. He had on well-worn salmon colored shorts, the cuffs threadbare where they stopped above his knees, an incredibly soft-looking gray t-shirt, and white sneakers with no socks. It was almost mid-October, but he didn’t look cold. He reminded Harry of summer, like it was still clinging to him somehow. Even in the sickly fluorescent lighting of the lab, so much of this boy seemed to glow, golden. His tan skin, the glinting highlights in the soft brown hair that fell forward onto his forehead, the light dusting of it on his arms and legs. He was beautiful.  Harry was a little in awe.

“I’m Louis Tomlinson,” the boy said, stepping toward Harry with his hand extended for a shake. “Eli’s my dog.” 

“I figured,” Harry said, taking the small proffered hand, hoping his wasn’t too clammy. Louis’s was smooth and dry, like warm driftwood, the firmness of his grip just right. “I’m Harry.” Harry said, flushing as their eyes met. Louis’s were very blue, “Harry Styles.”

“Well, thanks for keeping an eye on him, Harry Styles.” Louis said, he shook his head and rolled his eyes at Eli, “He’s always wandering off.”

“Needed a distraction anyway,” Harry said, fidgeting slightly under Louis’s gaze, scratching at his eyebrow. There was a pause, the silence stretching just long enough to make Harry’s discomfort build. And then, “Does he really know how to use the lift?” he asked, the words coming out in a nervous, mumbled rush, surprising him as they did.

Louis threw his head back at the question, laughing in utter delight, and Harry immediately went bright red. He’d have ducked his head in embarrassment if he’d been at all able to tear his eyes away from the perfect lines of Louis’s throat and the glint of his sharp white teeth as he laughed.

“Oh no, no.” Louis said, extending his palms out toward Harry, eyes full of apology and good-natured amusement, when he saw Harry’s blush. “No. Sorry.” He let out a chuckle again, shaking his head and bringing a hand up to touch his temple, “Sorry, that’s actually a uh—a legitimate question.” He flicked Eli on the ear, “I mean, he does really. It’s just. It’s a bit ridiculous. I uh—I think it’s more that he knows how to get on the lift with people, you know?” He moved his head from side to side, “Waits for the opportune moment. Then he just gets off where they do.” Louis smiled at Harry as he explained, eyes crinkling at the corners, making Harry’s stomach flutter. He turned his attention back to the dog, squatting down and slinging an arm around his neck, scratching at the fluff of hair on Eli’s chest, “and then I have no idea where you are, do I, Eli?” Louis asked, “Do I, mister?”

“You could—,” Harry coughed into his hand, clearing his throat as Louis looked back up at him again, the angle of the light was making the intense blue of his eyes even more pronounced. It gave Harry a bit of a thrill, “You could put signs up in the lifts. You know, something simple like: Please Do Not Let Eli Ride the Lift, Thank You.” Harry blocked out the words on an imaginary sign with his hand as he spoke them.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Louis said, laughing again, “Does everyone know his name, then?”

Harry shrugged, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, “I did.”

“Are you better at making friends than I am, E?” Louis asked, “Huh? You are, aren’t you?”

Harry heard the ancient wall clock tick over another minute, the sound echoing through the lab, and he glanced up at it quickly. 9:30. Shit. He looked over at his neglected sample on the counter, the floc had settled heavy at the bottom now, like dusty curdled milk, he’d just have to titrate tomorrow. Harry bit the inside of his cheek, looking back at Louis.  

“I’m—” he started, his heart racing, just at the thought of asking, not even sure what was possessing him to do so. He’d been alone so often, lately. In rooms without windows. Something about this boy made him want to change that. “This might be a little weird but—but I’m-I’m actually. I’m headed over to the um, to The Old Fashioned? To meet some people, right now…If. If you’re interested?” He finished with a stilted shrug.  

“Oh,” Louis said. He stood up from where he’d been crouched down by the dog, a look of surprise on his face. Harry felt light headed and antsy, a knot of anxiety in his chest. He regretted the words already, wanted to shove them back into his body somehow.   

“That’s a pub, right?” Louis said, slowly, a touch of pink high on his cheekbones.

Harry nodded, crossing his arms over his chest, unable to stop bouncing his right leg.

“Yeah, uh.” Louis bit his lip, “I really would, but…” he looked down at Eli.

“Oh.” Harry said. _Duh._ He waved his hands around in the air a little, as if doing so would somehow wipe his stupid question out of having ever existed, “Right. Right.” He said, “Sorry.”

“No.” Louis said, softly, shaking his head. He reached out and placed a tentative hand on Harry’s forearm, looking into his eyes. Harry felt a buzz in his bones at the touch, a spark of electricity vibrating up to his elbow. “Thank you. Haven’t had much company besides this guy since I got here.” He said with a half smile, stroking Eli’s head while he continued to look at Harry up from under bashful eyelashes.

“Any time,” Harry said quietly, meaning it, reaching out to pet the dog as well. They stood together for a little while, with Eli between them, not saying a word, and Harry felt a sweet pang of hopefulness take root in his chest, a pleasant heat in his cheeks from Louis’s nearness.

“Well,” Harry said reluctantly, at last, a little breathless, “I should-I should probably get going.”

Louis smiled and nodded. He waited as Harry slipped into his fall jacket and slung his knapsack up onto his back and then they walked to the main stairwell together, Eli trotting a few feet behind. Louis’s lab was on the floor above them and he stopped a few steps up the stairs, turning back to look at Harry, who was about to start down the flight to the ground floor.

“I’m sure Eli will visit again.” He said, smiling, crinkles appearing at the corner of his eyes.

“Better hold off on those signs in the lifts, then.” Harry said, smiling back.

“Nah,” Louis said, the crinkles by his eyes deepening, “I’ll just plan on coming with him, from now on.”

Harry walked to The Old Fashioned feeling happier than he had in a long time, so filled up with buoyant energy he had to hold back from running all the way there.

 

Several Fridays later, Harry was in the lab a little late again, running air equilibrated ph readings on the same stupid set of ground water samples, when Louis stopped by for a visit.

“Where’s E?” Harry asked, as Louis leaned back against the counter next to him, apparently fascinated by how Harry was arranging the samples on the air equilibrator.

“Walked here this morning,” Louis said with a shrug, and a smile. “It was raining. Felt like too much of a hassle.” He scrunched up his nose, “You know, wet dog smell and all that.”

Harry nodded in response, continuing to adjust the lines on the equilibrator, hoping he didn’t lose complete control of hands and knock all of his samples over because of how close Louis was standing. Louis and Eli had popped in frequently over the last three weeks, trailing behind Harry as he bumbled around the lab, distracting him in the best possible way. Louis always focused all of his bright-eyed attention on Harry while they were there, making him feel all glow-y and special, but a little afraid to feel so special, in case it wasn’t to Louis. Louis kept claiming they had to come back for repeat visits because of Eli’s giant and hopeless crush on Harry.

“He’s a goner, Haz.” Louis said, eyes dancing as he looked at Harry, petting Eli softly on the head, “Completely insufferable, won’t let me rest ‘til we come down and see you. Day in, Day out. Just Harry Harry Harry, with this one.”

Louis was shameless. And Harry loved it. But he also had a little voice in the back of his mind, telling him that maybe that was just the way Louis was. That he flirted that way with everyone.  So, he’d been trying not to make it too obvious how very much he liked Louis and his attention, attempting to dial back his radiant smiles and dopey beaming when Louis teased him, trying not to whip his head around too quickly anytime someone wandered into the lab, struggling to cultivate an air of un-invested friendliness whenever Louis said hello. It turned out Louis’s presence turned Harry into an even bigger klutz than usual, though, just a complete and total butterfingers, so it was probably a lost cause.

“Step away from that Erlenmeyer, Styles.” Zayn had said the previous Monday afternoon, before announcing that he was officially forbidding Harry from working with any and all glass objects when Louis and Eli were present.  

Harry had blushed furiously, silently vowing never to forgive Zayn for the rest of time, even if he had broken two flasks the Friday before. The first because Louis had shown up wearing glasses that looked—they looked _really_ good. And the second because Louis had leaned in while Harry was finally titrating the last dissolved oxygen sample and the hair on their forearms brushed together. So. I mean, Harry was only human.

Louis had just laughed though, seemingly oblivious to Harry looking all tomato faced because of Zayn’s pronouncement. “So no glass allowed, but any sort of chemical?” he’d asked, his eyebrows raised.

Niall snorted from the doorway, stopping by as he normally did after his Women’s Studies lecture. “He’ll probably trip carrying a tub of acid and disfigure us all.”

“Oh right,” Harry said grumpily, furrowing his brow and sweeping his arm in a circle, gesturing to the lab haphazardly, “We have so many tubs of acid lying around waiting for transport!”

And then Louis had giggled at that, genuinely amused, and Harry had turned to smiled back at him and then accidentally elbowed the Erlenmeyer flask where he had set down on the counter in the process, almost knocking it to the floor.

So, maybe Harry wasn’t being all that discreet. It was so hard though, his attraction to Louis was so intense it was almost debilitating. It was like running into wall. He couldn’t escape it. Even when Louis wasn’t in the lab, Eli curled up in a ball in the corner under the “Harry’s Banana Consumption Count” tally that Louis had forced him to start on the blackboard, Harry was thinking of him anyway. He thought about Louis all the time. Constantly holding delightful and meaningful conversations with him in his head, making Louis’s eyes crinkle just right. And then kissing him. Pulling Louis’s body against his own and finally finally pressing his fingertips into the buttery smooth skin of his perfect biceps, getting a hand on his even more perfect arse, sucking him off in the little room next door, the one that housed the mass spectrometer. Or on a bed. There too. Not all of his sexual fantasies took place around scientific instruments.

And now it was just the two of them in lab, no Zayn or Niall or Liam acting as a buffer. Not even Eli. They were all alone. And Harry was trying to ignore that fact, ignore the way it set his heart racing. He was concentrating extra hard on adjusting the skinny lines of the equilibrator, checking and rechecking to make sure each sample was bubbling properly from the air that was being piped into them. 

Louis sighed and hoisted himself up onto the counter next to the equilibrator, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his coat and watching Harry as he worked. Harry could feel him smiling, it made his body hurt.    
"Harry," He said finally, firm and soft, after one more pointless adjustment on Harry's part. “I think they’re good.”

Harry immediately stepped back from the samples in response, laughing sheepishly as he looked up at Louis, a sweet pang of adrenaline blooming in his body as their eyes met.

“Hi,” Louis said, with an aborted laugh, his cheeks slightly pink. He looked at Harry for a beat, eyes dancing over his face, and then laughed again, shaking his head. He kicked out a leg, tapping Harry lightly, right below the kneecap, with the toe of his shoe, "Do you maybe want to have dinner with me?" He asked, gripping the front of the counter as he spoke, not dropping his gaze, "Tonight?"

Harry took a surprised gulp of air.

"Tonight" he repeated, rather breathless and absent, too floored for proper brain function. His mouth hung slightly open after, eyes wide, heartbeat at a gallop.  
Louis's cheeks went a touch pinker, and he chuckled quietly, hanging his head. He didn’t seem deterred though, "Yeah. Tonight.” He said, he looked back up at Harry and gestured to the samples. “I mean, unless you have to run a bunch more samples after these?"

Harry shook his head.

“So dinner?” Louis said, with a tentative smile, brows raised.

Harry nodded, eyes still wide. Then he found his powers of speech, “Yes. Dinner. Please.” He croaked out.

They stared at each other for a moment and then broke into happy, nervous laughter and Harry felt dizzy and swirly, like he might float away. 

Louis kept looking at him with a small twisted smile on his face, still subtly shaking his head as he regarded him, as if he was making up his mind about something. "C'mere." He finally said, moving his head back a touch. 

Harry eyes went even wider than before, his breathing uneven. He swallowed and took a step toward Louis.

Louis nodded his head back again, encouraging Harry to come closer, his eyes soft, their corners crinkled. Harry leaned toward him, his blood rushing in his ears, and Louis reached out and encircled Harry’s left wrist with his fingers, rubbing softly at the delicate skin. He tugged Harry gently forward until he was standing right in front of him, right up against the lab bench, slotted between Louis’s legs.

“I like you, Styles.” Louis whispered, eyes alight. And he leaned in and kissed Harry softly, smiling into as Harry’s breath hitched.

It was a strange sort of torture, how gently it began, the pleasure of it squirmy and sharp inside of Harry. It made him feel happy and crazy and somehow almost petulant, like he was on the verge of stomping his foot and demanding more, more, more, even as the kiss deepened. He would always want more. It was the type of feeling he could chase forever, an itch he’d always want to scratch. 

“I like you, too.” He whispered into Louis’s neck, when they finally broke apart. “I like you a lot.” 

 

“See, Harry, told you that dog was a legend.” Niall would say, years later. Smiling and swaying a little on his feet, mildly drunk at the end of the rehearsal dinner, “fixed you two right up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Eli is based on my mother's own legendary dog, Goldman, who frequently accompanied my dad to the lab when he was getting his masters in soils in the late 70s. 
> 
> hahah I have a tutorial on how to find the Dissolved Oxygen of a water sample, so message me on tumblr ([gloriaandrews](http://gloriaandrews.tumblr.com/)) if you are interested! It's my hands in the pictures! I am the star!!! haha you just need a digital titrator handy. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feedback appreciated!!!


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